Teaching ESL in Bangkok: Good, the bad and the Ugly

The year was 2011. I was in the middle of my 2nd year of teaching in Korea. Which was awesome. I had made new friends in Seoul and enjoyed my Hogwon teaching job. The city of Seoul was really growing on me. I'd spend the weekends hitting up Art museums and galleries, drinking way to much coffee and shopping. And then I gotta message from an old friend. "I'm getting my TESOL certification in Thailand!" To make a long story short, she wanted me to take the class with her. I'd be lying If I said Thailand wasn't already on my mind. But the her message gave the that last and final nudge I needed to make the commitment to move there. And really I did want to try another country. So I get my TESOL and after a month I start aggressively looking for a teaching job. After a few days I found a private school in Bang Na an area right outside the city. I started my job and taught a lot of kids and mean like the whole school. Pre-school through 6th grade. I really enjoyed teaching the kids. They greeted me with enthusiasm and seemed to want me there. That part of the job I loved. However the school really didn't give me the support I needed as a teacher. Like almost no support at all. I was the only English teacher there which made things that much more difficult. I should have realized something was up when my recruiter told me 3 people had broken their contracts before me. However after teaching up to 40 2nd graders at once I learned a lot about teaching. The up side was they really got into English games and things like that. They really enjoyed it when I gave them the challenge of an English game. It could be as simple as a guessing game or tornado game(more on that later). Things like not having air conditioning did play a role in me not wanting to renew my contract after the semester was over. Looking back I would have opted for an adult academy teaching job. They teaching weekends and have few vacations but from what I gathered most people that taught there enjoyed it. I did know people that taught at elementary schools that did enjoy their jobs. So not all schools were like mine. There is also the option of teaching at a University. Those jobs are harder to find, but it's still a viable option. Also there are international schools for those that hold a teaching certification. I would recommend Thailand to those who are not afraid of a little adventure.